With letter writing and filing giving way to e-mail and online billing, the home desk has been shedding paper weight. But it still plays a key role in today's hectic lives, serving as a place to reorganize and recharge—literally and figuratively.

"A desk is a home base," says decorator Mariette Himes Gomez, who considers a workstation to be essential, whether in a study or a corner of a studio apartment. And furniture design has kept up as technology slims down. "You need less storage in a desk than before," she says. "Instead of a big block of mahogany, you can now have gorgeous legs."

Nonetheless, practical details, such as drawers, can be just as important as elegant lines. "A desk is not just a pretty table," says designer David Scott. "It has a job to do." Sometimes more than one, he adds: It can serve as a dining surface or a buffet, or stand in for a bedside table. "Some people use their laptops in bed," he says, "but there's a creative process that happens when you sit at a desk."